How Long Do Rabbits Live?

Find out how long rabbits live in this Howcast video featuring bunny lover Amy Sedaris and rabbit expert Mary E. Cotter.

Transcript

Speaker 1: How long do rabbits live? Well, how long do rabbits live? That question really is answered in terms of how well you take care of a rabbit. It used to be that when people got rabbits and this is I'm thinking 15, 20 years ago. We were telling people that they lived five to seven years because they were living five to seven years.

Then it moved up to seven to nine years and then it moved up to seven to ten years. Then we started saying eight to ten years. Now, we're saying ten to twelve years and this reflects changes that we've made and learned about and passed onto owners in diet and in veterinary care as well as in the way that the rabbits are kept.

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This little bunny, this beautiful little creature with blue eyes and white fur is three years old. It's a young rabbit.

Speaker 2: Three?

Speaker 1: Three and Amy's rabbit on the other hand . . .

Speaker 2: She's 12.

Speaker 1: She's 12 years old.

Speaker 2: She's 12 years old and she's doing great.

Speaker 1: How long has she lived with you?

Speaker 2: I've had her for, what, 11 years.

Speaker 1: Ten, eleven years?

Speaker 2: Yeah.

Speaker 1: Yeah, so Amy really has an elder rabbit at this point and elder rabbits require a different kind of care just as elder humans require a different kind of care. The main thing to remember when you get these animals, this is not a short term commitment. Rabbits are likely to live 10 to 12 years. I've had a couple of teenagers and I believe we had one person this year applying to the Guiness Book of World Records and her rabbit was verified to be 14 years old. I have heard from people who say they have rabbits older than that, but Guiness checks all records.

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Speaker 2: Maybe they're talking coat.

Speaker 1: Maybe.

Speaker 2: The rabbit coat they had in their closet. Okay?

Speaker 1: So, anyway. However long your rabbit lives, it will live longer if you take good care of him and take him to a vet at least once a year for a well bunny check. Feed the right kind of diet without excess calories.

Speaker 2: But you're right. It's mostly stress.

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Speaker 2: Keep the stress level down and they'll live for a long time.

Speaker 1: Yeah. It's true. If you take care of them correctly . . .

Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1: . . . they'll live for a long time. Good exercise, good diet, good love. Good love.